


how soon is now?

by lscar123



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Basically all the AFTG warnings, Charmed AU, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Family Magic, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, The Power Of Three, Urban Fantasy, Witches, but inspired/most concepts borrowed from Charmed, nothing too graphic but its all there and talked about, sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2018-11-19 03:02:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11304366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lscar123/pseuds/lscar123
Summary: A strained family of witches, each of which possess a unique power, control a powerful family magic known as the power of three and have vowed to protect innocents from dark magic. After they meet a boy, a young witch with a dark past who has escaped from the underworld, they find themselves drawn into a conflict with the very essence of darkness.





	1. Something Wicca This Way Comes

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I finally wrote the first chapter of the Charmed inspired thing that I couldn't get out of my head. It seems my fandom niche is writing AU's inspired by late 90's - early 2000's WB shows. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy a lot of magic and shit. This will be my next main focus after A Hole In The World and I'm hoping to update weekly.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1

Something Wicca This Way Comes

-

 _I am the son_  
_And the heir_  
_Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar_  
_I am the son and heir_  
_Of nothing in particular_

_-_

 

This wasn’t how Andrew ever expected his life to go.

“Where is it?” Nicky whined from somewhere on Andrew’s left side.

“Seriously?” Aaron snarled from the right, “You’re the one who scryed for it!”

“Shut up!” Nicky huffed, “Why don’t you try scrying and we’ll see how far you get!”

Andrew was already wishing for a rogue fireball to come incinerate him.

“It said the demon would be right here,” Nicky frowned, “I didn’t do anything wrong…it’s just not here.”

“Of course it’s here,” Andrew said under his breath, “it’s a shapeshifter, we’re probably standing right on top of it.”

“Please tell me you brought the spell,” Aaron turned to Nicky, “if you left it at home again…”

Nicky scoffed, “You leave a spell at home _one_ time and can’t remember the words…”

Andrew snatched the piece of paper from Nicky’s hand and flattened it out, it was hard to read because of Nicky’s poor excuse for handwriting but it didn’t take long for Andrew to decipher the words and commit them to his memory.

“Got it?” Andrew asked Aaron.

“Yeah,” Aaron nodded, “Nicky?”

“Good to go,” Nicky smiled.

Andrew sighed and held up his hand, three fingers raised in a countdown.

Three.

Two.

One.

 

_“When in the circle that is unknown_

_Safety's gone and evil roams_

_Rid all beings from these walls_

_Help our powers three_

_Now heed our call”_

 

They spoke in unison, aside from Nicky tripping up on the words he fucking wrote himself, and it did the trick. The air around them seemed to come alive, it was heavy with anticipation and electricity. With magic.

Like clockwork, the trashcan that was in front of them burst to life in a flash of energy and twisted itself into the hulking form of a demon. It was only of the larger ones Andrew had seen since they’d started doing…whatever the fuck it is they were doing.

The demon snarled and lunged forward towards Nicky. Before Andrew or Aaron could do anything, Nicky panicked and threw the small glass vial at the demon. It missed by a few dozen feet and clattered to the ground in a puff of smoke.

“Good job, idiot!” Aaron growled, “That was the only vanquishing potion we brought!”

“Maybe you should have thought ahead before only bringing one!” Nicky snapped back.

Children. All of them.

The demon lunged again, this time taking a swipe at Aaron. The claw connected with Aaron’s shoulder but it was only a glancing blow, enough for Aaron to shake off and keep moving.

“Let’s try this,” Aaron narrowed his eyes and flicked his hand to the right.

The demon went flying in the same direction as Aaron’s hand and collided with the brick wall. Nicky let out an excited cheer and Aaron gave them both a smug smile.

If only it were what easy.

The demon was back on its feet in a second, this time with its hand held out and glowing with flames. There was the fireball Andrew was looking for earlier. Andrew sighed, Nicky and Aaron had yet to even notice that the giant, brown monstrosity of a creature had even recovered. Aaron was a few seconds away from being burnt to a crisp and the idiot had no idea.

Andrew rolled his eyes, put upon, and waved his hands out in front of him as the fireball sailed through the air towards his brother. Aaron’s face twisted in confusion at Andrew’s movements and all Andrew could do was motion for his brother to turn around.

When Aaron turned, he found himself face to face with a fireball that was frozen in midair.

“Christ,” Aaron jumped backwards, “were you just going to let it hit me?”

“Obvious not,” Andrew rolled his eyes, “if I was planning on that then it wouldn’t be frozen, would it?”

Nicky laughed, “Andrew, why don’t you just do this all the time? It makes things so much easier.”

Andrew shrugged. He supposed that freezing anything in its tracks for an undetermined amount of time did make vanquishing demons easier, but it also took away what little of the act that was interesting to him.

Still, with no vanquishing potion there wasn’t much else they could do. Andrew stepped around his brother and slipped one of the long, silver athames out from under the black armbands that covered his arms from wrist to elbow, and flipped it in his hand. Andrew held the athame blade first and used it to reposition the fireball so it was pointing back at the shifter.

With that done, all that was left for Andrew to do was unfreeze the scene and let it play out. Andrew waved his hands in front of him again and the demon continued its snarl, oblivious to the fact that the course of the fireball had been changed.

Less than a second later, the demon was engulfed in flames, screaming, and then reduced to a pile of ash on the ground.

Nicky let out a low whistle before walking over and scooping some of the ash into the small glass bottle he pulled out of his pocket.

Andrew glared at him and raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Nicky shrugged, “You never know when we’re going to need the essence of a shapeshifter.”

Aaron scoffed, “You couldn’t even handle throwing a vanquishing potion that only contained mandrake root, you wait awhile until you start messing around with essences of anything.”

“We didn’t even _need_ the potion,” Nicky insisted, “I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of this!”

“Because we got lucky!” Aaron snapped, “We didn’t even know that shapeshifters were vulnerable to their own fireballs.”

Nicky looked thoroughly wounded, and slightly pathetic, sitting on the ground next to a pile of demon ash with a jar, a small shovel and a frown on his face.

Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose, “I knew.”

“What?” Aaron’s head snapped towards Andrew.

“It’s in the Book of Shadows,” Andrew said plainly, “the very last entry under shapeshifters.”

“Bullshit!” Aaron glared, “I read that page top to bottom at least five times.”

“It’s on the back of the page,” Andrew said, he was getting bored, “ _a dangerous but highly effective method of vanquishing a shapeshifter is to use its own power over fire against it. This method should not be attempted unless all others have failed and you think you can do it safely._ ”  

“Why the fuck was that on the back of the page?” Aaron growled, “What idiot thought that was a good idea?”

Andrew shrugged and turned on his heel, “Ask your mother, it was in her handwriting. I’ll bookmark the pages with spells about contacting the dead.”

Andrew left Aaron and Nicky alone in the alley, pointedly ignoring Nicky’s overexaggerated gasp.

 

III

 

Neil could feel the flames licking at his feet behind him, physically and metaphorically. He knew the Lazarus demon was gaining on him and Neil wasn’t doing himself any favors by taking blind turns in the hollow caverns of the deeper parts of the underworld.

Neil clung to the bag that was draped across his body as he ran. The bag was his only salvation, it was filled to the brim with various magical ingredients and whatever else he managed to steal from the storeroom when he escaped. All he needed was one second, one moment of respite to find what he needed and he could throw together a quick potion to create a portal and get himself out of the underworld.

Neil knew he didn’t have a moment to rest.

The cloud of ash appeared directly in front of Neil and he didn’t have enough time to react or change course. The Lazarus demon materialized right in his path and had Neil by the wrist before he could move away. It's hair was tied messily above its head with a few strands falling down to cover its ash smudged face. Neil could see the glowing yellow eyes of the demon looking at him, assessing him in every way. The duster that the demon wore was worn and dirty, fraying at the edges with what Neil assumed was decades worth of battle marks.

Neil hissed in pain as the demons’ sharp nails dug into the already bloody and raw circles that had been cut into his wrists from his useless struggles against the handcuffs.

“You’re not much of anything with your powers bound, are you?” The demon smiled, “I don’t know why they sent me, any low-level demon could have gotten you back where you belong.”

“They know what I can do,” Neil spat, “you’re obviously disposable to them.”

Neil grit his teeth as the demon strengthened his hold on Neil’s wrist, the only positive was that the pain from his wrist was making it easier for Neil to ignore the pain from his other injuries, especially the dull and throbbing ache in the lower half of his body.

Neil shook his head, now wasn’t the time. He could fall apart later.

Neil’s free hand slipped into the open pocket of the bag, searching for something to help him. It only took a few seconds for Neil to find what he was searching for, he knew his hand was close to the athame when the sharp blade cut his finger.

“Idiots like you always underestimate me,” Neil growled as he ripped his wrist away from the Lazarus demon, it’s claws took even more of Neil’s skin as he went.

“You litt-“

The demon was silenced as Neil drove the blade of the athame into the side of its head and it fell to ash as soon as Neil pulled the blade out. It wasn’t a perfect solution, Neil knew the demon would resurrect itself sooner rather than later. There weren’t many cemeteries in the underworld to bury the ashes of a Lazarus demon in so it wouldn’t resurrect.

Neil wiped the blood of the demon on his shirt and quickly opened the bag and set about combing through everything he’d managed to steal. He was satisfied, there were a lot of rare components that he would need for more high-level spells if he made it out of the underworld.

If his powers weren’t bound he would have been out of the underworld sooner, he could have teleported himself out on his own without having to worry about using a potion. He could have fought back. He could have stopped them all. But he was useless without his powers, beholden to scraps of paper for spells and glass bottles full of potions to keep him safe.

The ash of the Lazarus demon began to swirl and Neil cursed under his breath.

He thought he had more time.

Neil wracked his brain, he combed through every lesson his mother had taught him, he tried to remember every spell she’d drilled into his brain. He settled on a protection spell. He didn’t have time to figure out if he had the right ingredients so he held the athame up to his palm and clenched his teeth as he pulled the blade across his flesh.

Blood began to spill from the wound in his hand and Neil held his hand out in front of himself, curling his fingers into a fist to press into the open wound to draw out even more blood. His power might be bound but his blood was still a part of him, it was still filled with two conflicting but powerful bloodlines.

The Lazarus demon was almost fully reconstituted so Neil acted fast. He stuck the tip of the athame in the pool of blood in front of him and pulled it through the dirt of the underwood until it formed a complete circle around him.

Neil closed his eyes and began to chant.

 

_“Auger De Gomay, Auger De Gomay_

_Ancient One of the Earth so Deep_

_Master of Moon and Sun_

_I shield you in my Wiccan Way_

_Here in my circle round_

_Asking you, Protect this space_

_And offer your Sun force down.”_

Neil felt a rush of air against his face and a familiar prickling sensation on the back of his neck. It actually fucking worked, he cast a protection spell in the underworld. Neil knew it probably wouldn’t last long so he ignored everything else around him and set to work on the portal potion.

The Lazarus demon was fully reconstituted and sauntered forwards towards Neil.

“You’re still here?” The demon mocked, “You’re even dumber than I thought you were.”

Neil ignored the posturing in favor of using the athame to strip the scales from the dried pixie wings in his hand and drop them into the mortar to ground with the stone pestle.

“This is getting boring,” the demon shook its head and lunged forward towards Neil.

The Lazarus demon collided with the invisible barrier around Neil and was sent flying towards the other side of the cave, its head colliding with the wall and leaving a bloody imprint.

Neil allowed himself to crack a smile as he opened the small bottle of leprechaun tears and added it to the mortar for good luck. He could feel the power of the barrier waning and Neil knew it probably wouldn’t survive another attack.

Neil finished the potion at the same time the Lazarus demon got back on its feet. Neil poured the potion into the small vial and packed everything back into his bag. Neil tossed the potion at the ground and quickly stepped into the swirling vortex that opened in front of him just as the Lazarus demon broke through the protection barrier. The magic of the poral ripped Neil away from the underworld and closed quickly behind him.

Neil had no idea where the portal was taking him, all he could do was trust that the magic would take him somewhere safe.

 

III

 

Andrew sat in the attic of the house with his feet propped up against the open window and a cigarette between his finger. Aaron and Nicky would probably scream at him for smoking so close to the Book of Shadows but Andrew really didn’t give a fuck.

Besides, it wasn’t like either of them were in any rush to have a conversation with Andrew.

Andrew’s eyes settled on the spider dangling in the corner of the window.

It was a black widow.

Andrew held his hand out towards the spider, daring it to bite him. The spider was dangling from the corner of the window on a thread of webbing and was slowly inching its way towards Andrew’s hand. If Andrew was anyone else he would have laughed at the absurdity of the moment, the fact that he was tempting a deadly spider to bite him.

Andrew waved his hand in front of the spider and it froze completely. He narrowed his eyes and leaned in closer, blowing on it and wrinkling his brow when it didn’t move an inch. He waved his hand in front of the spider again and it resumed its movements.

Andrew held out his hand and waited until the spider was only centimeters from touching him before he froze it again and shook his head.

A dangerous, venomous, and deadly creature frozen in time. Unable to touch him. Unable to hurt him.

Wouldn’t this little trick have come in handy when he was younger and much more vulnerable? Wouldn’t it have been nice if his mother didn’t bind his powers before she got rid of him?

Oh well. If wishes were horses then beggars would ride.

A strong wind rippled through the attic and drew Andrew out of his thoughts. He turned his head and found the pedestal that housed the Book of Shadows rocking back and forth, swathed in the unnatural breeze.

The front cover of the book flew open and the pages began to flip on their own with an almost terrifying speed. Andrew stayed rooted in place, the pressure of the attic was almost unbearable and Andrew wasn’t even sure if he could move even if he wanted to.

Suddenly, almost as quickly as it began, the air stopped and the pressure of the attic went back to normal. The Book of Shadows settled itself and laid open to a page that Andrew couldn’t quite see from where he was sitting. Andrew blinked for a few seconds, dumbfounded, before turning back to the spider and unfreezing it. He picked up the paperback book next to him and crushed the black widow before rising from his chair and walking towards the book.

The page that was on display was one that Andrew hadn’t seen before. He still hadn’t read the book from cover to cover, it made him uncomfortable to be alone with the book for too long.

Not that he would never admit that to anyone.

“The Source of All Evil,” Andrew read the title of the page out loud.

The image drawn onto the withered page was that of a strange figure in a dark cloak, its face obscured by darkness. Something about the image unsettled Andrew and a warning bell was starting to off in his head.

Danger.

Andrew only read the first few lines of the entry before deciding he needed to gather Aaron and Nicky.

**_The Source of All Evil is the title given to the most powerful demon and ruler of the Underworld._ **

**_The Source itself is the essence of pure evil, which possesses and merges with a new host each time it is vanquished._ **


	2. Missed Connections

 

 

Chapter 2

Missed Connections

 

“This is disconcerting,” Nicky frowned with his hands on his hips, “it just…opened up to this page on its own?”

Aaron narrowed his eyes at the Book of Shadows before turning his glare to Andrew, “Are you sure you’re not fucking with us?”

Andrew rolled his eyes, his brother was so predictable, “Yes, Aaron. I was bored and decided to open the Book to a random page, which just so happened to describe the source of all fucking evil, just to fuck with the both of you. You caught me. I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”

Andrew’s bored stare only served to annoy Aaron even more, “I don’t know why I even bother.”

“You wound me,” Andrew said before turning to Nicky, “I was smoking and then some magical tornado decided to come through and open the book to this page.”

Nicky gasped, “You were _smoking_ by the Book of Shadows?”

Andrew took a deep breath; his patience was growing more and more thin by the second. Neither Nicky nor Aaron seemed to care about the fact that something had happened to the Book. They were more worried about Andrew; if he was lying, if he was smoking near the ancient magical family encyclopedia.

Fine. If they didn’t care then neither would he.

Andrew turned on his heel and made his way to the stairs that led out of the attic.

“Hey!” Nicky yelped, “Where are you going?”

“Work,” Andrew grunted, “call me when you decided to give a shit.”

“Andrew!” Aaron barked, “What the fuck?”

Nicky wouldn’t let it go, “You can’t just run off to that bar every time you don’t feel like talking to us!”

“I can,” Andrew said, turning back to face his family with a two-finger salute, “that’s why I bought the place.”

Andrew kept walking, only stopping to grab his jacket and keys from his room, and made his way out of the house.

 

III

 

The portal opened and Neil tumbled out onto the cold, hard, ground.

It took a few moments for Neil to get his bearings. He didn’t know where he was, but it was loud. The ground was hard and it scraped against his skin as he fell, leaving him with another mark to add to his collection.

The ground was concrete, Neil finally realized as his vision blurred back together. He ran his palm across the ground and winced when it came into contact with something sticky. He was in a back alley, close to a dumpster. Neil shook his head and wiped his palm against the ratty jeans he wore, pointedly not trying to think of what his hand actually touched.

The sound, Neil realized, was traffic. He was in a city. A big one, if the volume of honking and screaming at passing drivers was any indication.

Whichever city he was in, at least it was far enough away from the Underworld.

Neil took a moment to catch his breath. He leaned against the solid wall behind him and let his head drop against the cool stone. It was the first time he felt able to just breathe in months. He was alone and, for the moment, he was safe.

The Leprechaun tears that Neil found and added to the portal potion were a god send. Leprechauns were beings of pure luck, and that amount of natural luck was just what Neil needed to craft a potion that would magically conceal him for the time being.

Even from The Seer.

It wouldn’t last long but from the sheer volume of tears he added to the potion he would have a few days, maybe a week at most, before they were able to track him again.

Which meant that Neil only had a short time to figure out how to unbind his magic. If they came for him again, and they would come for him again because they _needed_ him, he wouldn’t be able to stop them without his magic. It was hard enough to escape one Lazarus demon without his magic and Neil didn’t want to think about what else they would throw at him this time.

Neil attention was drawn by a sound further down the alley, the sound of a door opening. He was on his feet in a second, the duffle bag strapped to his shoulder and the silver athame just up his sleeve, ready to be drawn if he needed to defend himself.

The sound of footsteps echoed off of the walls of the alley, they were coming closer and whoever it was, they moving quickly.

Neil crouched into a defensive position, he may not have his magic but he was taught enough by his mother that he knew how to survive in a fight if he had to.

The silhouette of a man finally appeared in Neil’s line of sight. He was tall and would easily tower over Neil. The blurry features became clearer as the man got closer. The man was wearing a tight black shirt that clung to his body as if it was a second skin. Neil could make out the hard lines of muscles in the man’s chest and abdomen and could see large biceps that threatened to rip the already meager sleeves of the shirt.

The sight of the man made Neil stomach churn.

The man stopped in front of the dumpster and lifted the lid. It was only then that Neil realized the man was carrying a large bag of trash. He hoisted it over the lid of the dumpster and the sound of clattering bottles echoed through the space.

Neil let out a breath that he hadn’t even realized he was holding.

The sound was loud enough to draw the attention of the man.

“Is someone there?” The man asked, craning his head around the dumpster.

Neil slipped the athame out of his sleeve and ignored the searing pain from the cut on his palm as he gripped the silver blade tightly.

“Listen,” the man said, scrubbing a hand across his buzzcut but making no further move to investigate Neil’s position, “we’re not open for a few more hours so if you need anything, like food or water, let me know.”

Neil tensed, confusion quickly being replaced by revulsion. A trap.

The man sighed, “It’s not a problem, really. The owner of this place likes to act like he’s a giant asshole but he’s got a bit of a soft spot for strays and doesn’t mind letting a few things slide to feed the homeless.”

Neil’s eyes went wide and he had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing. The man through he was homeless?

The man shrugged, “It’s up to you. If you need anything then just knock on the door over there.”

Neil’s eyes followed to where the man pointed and he made note of the black door at one end of the alley, at least he knew which way to _not_ go now. The man turned around soon after and headed back towards the door he’d just come out of.

The tension in Neil’s shoulders eased out slowly and he loosened the grip on the athame, wincing at the pain in his palm as he slid the blade back into his pocket. He’d need to see if he could make a quick healing salve for his palm and wrists as soon as possible.

As soon as Neil was sure he was alone he made his way to the opposite end of the alley, leaving the black door far behind him. He only stopped when he stepped back out onto the main street to take in exactly where he was.

Neil was standing at the crest of a hill and the large, red bridge in the distance caught his eye. The Golden Gate Bridge. He was in San Francisco.

Why had the portal taken him here? The portal was supposed to take him somewhere where he could find help, somewhere that would keep him safe. Why would the portal dump him in a random alleyway in San Francisco?

Neil sighed, he didn’t have much time to find help and this complicated things. How the fuck was he supposed to find something in a city this large? He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning and looking at the building behind him. His eyes focused on the blinking neon sign, Eden’s Twilight.

A bar.

The magical portal that was supposed to take him to safety dumped him in the alleyway of a bar? Neil blinked, there must have been something wrong with the potion he mixed. It would make sense, he did it so quickly and there was already such a large margin of error for potions even if you were mixing them under perfect circumstances.

It was something he would figure out later, right now he needed to get into clean clothes and try to figure out what to do with his injuries.

As Neil made his way down the hill he couldn’t help but feel something change in the air around him. Something felt like it was prickling at the back of his neck, like it was trying to get his attention. Neil didn’t know what to think, it didn’t feel dangerous but Neil was loathe to trust anyone or anything at the moment. He added it to the list of shit he’d try to figure out later.

But maybe, just maybe, it meant that the portal worked. Maybe there was something in the city that could help him.

Neil took a deep breath and continued walking in the opposite direction of Eden’s Twilight without stopping to look back.

 

III

 

Andrew paused just before he opened the door the Eden’s.

“The fuck?” Andrew muttered to himself.

The feeling was still coursing through him. It a similar feeling to the one in the attic, electric, like it was a sign. Someone or something was trying to get his attention and he fucking hated it.

Andrew looked left, then right, then checked behind him, and found nothing. There wasn’t a single person around. He hadn’t seen anyone since pulling into the parking lot except for the grubby looking person who was walking down the hill just as he got to the door.

Andrew took a deep breath and reached for his left armband, running his finger across the bottom and checking for his knives and the single athame in the middle of them, and let the feeling of protection ground him before he stepped inside.

He’d figure out the rest later, when Nicky and Aaron got their heads out of their asses.

“Andrew!” Roland cheered from the bar, looking particularly good in a tight black shirt that showed every single muscle on his body, “You’re here early.”

“Save it,” Andrew rolled his eyes, Roland may look good but that wasn’t why Andrew came in, “I’m not here to blow you.”

Roland huffed, “You’re such a sweet talker.”

“You know me,” Andrew shrugged, “Anything important?”

“Not really,” Roland said, “there was a homeless guy in the alley but I think he got spooked when talked to him and offered him some food.”

“Such a philanthropist,” Andrew rolled his eyes, “anything I should actually care about?”

“One of the orders is going to be a day late,” Roland drew his eyebrows together, “the good vodka, I think. It was supposed to be here today but I got a call a few hours ago saying that there was some kind of problem with their truck and they won’t be able to make it until tomorrow.”

Andrew sighed, running a hand through the slight curls in his hair, “Whatever will the people do without their expensive vodka?”

“More like what will we do without their money from the expensive vodka?” Roland echoed.

Andrew drummed his fingers on the bar, “If it’s just for the night then discount the cheap stuff, they’ll be less pissed about not getting good vodka if they’re too drunk off of the rail vodka. Then they’ll spend more.”

“I like the way you think,” Roland smiled.

“It’s why I run the place and not you,” Andrew spun on his heel, “I’ll be in my office until we open, knock if you need anything.”

“Anything?” Roland hummed.

“I said no.” Andrew said forcefully.

“Yes, sir.”

Andrew huffed and made his way up the stairs and to his office. He locked the door behind him and rested his head against it.

He couldn’t get the feeling from earlier out of his head and he couldn’t stop thinking that something had changed in the city. The Book of Shadows all but issued a magical warning and then Andrew felt the pull of some strange magic not even an hour later?

Andrew sighed and pulled a bottle of Johnny Walker and a small glass out of the bottom of his desk drawer. He poured himself a drink and threw it back, hissing at the burn.

Whatever the fuck was happening, he’d worry about it later.

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Awakened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is me pretending it hasn't been six months

Chapter 3

Awakened

 

The scene was just as grisly as the one before it, and the one before that one too.

“I heard one of the uniformed officers say that this was the second body this month,” Detective Jack Wheeler sighed, “this is fucked. I can’t believe I’m seeing something like this right out of the gate.”

Detective Matt Boyd pinched his nose, turning his eyes away from his newly assigned partner and back to the body on the ground. Well, what was left of the body.

It was another young girl, her clothes torn and bloody. Her face and body were covered in deep, red, angry wounds that looked more like they came from the claws of an animal than from any weapon a human could wield. There was no discernable pattern to the wounds, just what appeared to be a frantic need to tear and rip away flesh from bone.

Matt shook his head, “Welcome to San Francisco, home of the Golden Gate Bridge and a ton of fucked up murders. Is the Medical Examiner here yet?”

Jack pointed his pen behind Matt before turning back to the pad he was making notes on.

Matt turned and saw the Medical Examiner walking towards him, dressed in his usual crime scene attire.

“Another one?” The Medical Examiner grimaced.

“Yeah,” Matt frowned, “Looks like the same M.O. too.”

“Let’s see what we’re working with,” The Medical Examiner knelt in front of the body and opened his case to begin his examination.

Matt turned away, he didn’t need to watch the man work to confirm what he already knew in his bones. It would be just like the other ones.

“It’s just like the other ones,” the Medical Examiner sighed, “female, early-to-mid 20’s, auburn hair, blue eyes. Deep wounds carved into the body by what can only be described as an impossibly sharp blade. Once again, I’d say this is some kind of crazy animal but there’s nothing remotely near the city that could do something like this unless we’ve all managed to miss a rampaging bear over the last few months.”

“Six bodies over the past three months,” Matt shook his head, “I don’t know what the hell we’re missing.”

“Have all the victims been pretty girls that were torn to pieces?” Jack continued when Matt nodded his affirmation, “Maybe it’s some kind of trafficking ring gone bad?”

“I’m tired of guesses and maybes,” Matt clenched his fist in frustration, “I want fucking answers!”

The Medical Examiner frowned, “I’ll have my team comb the scene but there’s been no sign of sexual assault on any of the victims, all the girls have simply bled to death from their wounds.”

“A lot of good that will do,” Matt hisses, “I’m sure they’ll find nothing, just like they did with all the others.”

“Alright,” Jack snipped, “time to get out of here and let them do their job.”

Jack hooked his arm around Matt and began to pull him away from the scene, “Apologize for being a dick, Boyd.”

Matt huffed, “Sorry for being a dick,”

“Don’t sweat it,” the Medical Examiner waved them away, “I know we’re all trying our best with this thing.”

Jack spoke as soon as he and Matt cleared the head of the alley, “So, no one is looking at this from an animal angle?”

Matt shook his head, “That was my initial thought after the first body but there’s just no way that it could be some kind of freak animal incident. There’s a clear pattern with the type of girls who end up dead and there’s no way that there’s this wild animal out there that is consciously selecting cute girls with red hair to maul.”

“If this is a serial killer then it’s some guy who is into some weird shit, or has a lot of repressed issues.”

Matt nodded, “Luckily, I happen to know someone who’s a bit of an expert in both of those areas.”

 

III

 

Neil wandered the slowly darkening streets of San Francisco aimlessly. He’d been lost and adrift since the odd moment earlier, he couldn’t put his finger on it, but Neil was sure he’d sensed someone with strong magical power close to him and it wasn’t an outright warm feeling.

Neil’s only objective was getting far enough away from that swelling sense of power, and he was close to accomplishing it.

The power was still buzzing in the back of his head, but it had dulled the further he’d gotten from the spot where his teleportation potion had spit him out. All that was left now was a dull throb that pulsed three times in a rhythmic pattern every minute or so.

Unpleased, but a far cry from the screaming in his head a few miles back. 

The only upside to the ordeal was that Neil found yet another loophole in his bound powers. When he was being held in the underworld, and they told Neil they were binding his powers to make him easier to control, he’d feared the worst. Neil had lived his entire life with magic, he’d been born with it and his mother taught him how to control the overwhelming power even while they were on the run. His magic was as much a part of himself as his skin or his legs.

Whoever bound his power either didn’t know what they were doing, or they greatly underestimated how much power he actually had.

Neil could no longer rely on the gifts that had gotten him by for so long, but he could still cast smaller spells if he used the power innately found in his blood. He could still draw upon enough magical energy to make a potion work, and he could still sense magic around him.

It wasn’t much, but it was better than being totally defenseless.

Abruptly, the rhythmic pulses of energy stopped. Neil stood rooted to the sidewalk, breathing in and out slowly, as he waited for the feeling to come back.

“Move, idiot.”

Neil stumbled, flinching and curling in on himself protectively as a stray hand pushed him to the side. Neil’s fingers slipped into his pocket and curled around the athame, ready to fight if he had to, but the man who pushed him kept walking.

The man had a phone pressed to his ear and was wearing a tightly tailored suit. Neil watched him as he crossed the street and ran into a nearby building. A law firm, Neil realized as his eyes traveled up the front of the glass structure.

“Just a random asshole.” Neil whispered a reassurance to himself as he pulled his shaking hand out of his pocket and smoothed down his rumpled shirt.

Neil walked along in silence for another few miles, though he was constantly on guard. He knew he didn’t just have to worry about warlocks or demons, but everyday humans too. Neil knew how he looked, he was sleep deprived, thin, and frail. Anyone could take one look at him and think they could take him, and help themselves to anything he had on himself or in his bag.

In some ways, the Underworld was easier. At least down there Neil knew where everyone stood, but with the mortals? The person you pass on the street is just as likely to smile at you as they are to stab you.

Neil knew he needed to find somewhere to rest for the night, somewhere safe where he would be left alone until daylight. He wasn’t going to sleep, but he also wasn’t going to make himself a target by roaming around an unfamiliar city in the dark.

An involuntary yawn slipped past Neil’s lips. Neil felt his eyes go wide as the weight of so many sleepless nights wrapped itself around him like a shroud, circling his shoulders and pressing down onto his back like a warm and inviting cloud.

“No, no, no, no.” Neil began to panic.

Neil slipped into the closest alley and began to frantically pull at his hair, tugging harder and harder until his scalp burned. When that didn’t work, Neil slapped a hand across his face, wincing in pain as the sound echoed down the stone walls of the darkened box.

Nothing was working. Neil felt his eyes getting heavier, his movements beginning to slow. He was out of options as he pulled the athame out of his pocket and held it at the ready, trying to think of an area that would cause the most pain while resulting in the least amount of damage.

Anything to keep himself awake.

Neil settled on his upper arm, far enough away from any arteries and not enough to seriously handicap him in a fight, and was about to pierce his skin when something throbbed in between his eyes.

The pressure wasn’t painful, but it was surprisingly forceful enough to cause Neil to fumble his athame. The metal clattered to the ground and shocked Neil back into awareness as he realized what was happening.

He was sensing more magical power.

This power was different though, it was warm and inviting, and not in the way that seemed to be a trap. The power from before was wild and raw, almost untamed. It was terrifying in its scope. But the power he was sensing now was almost calling to him in a soft voice, letting him know that it was safe to seek it out.

What the fuck was happening?

Neil made a decision all at once.

 A terrible, rash decision that his mother would have beaten him into the ground for.

Neil was going to listen to the voice. He was going to find the source of that power, and it was going to help him stay awake.

 

III

 

Andrew’s head rested against the back of his plush chair as the music from the club below thumped through the floor of his office. He closed his eyes and felt, more than listened to, the bass travel through the room. It was relaxing, as relaxing as throbbing music and electronica could be anyway.

Andrew never imagined himself owning a nightclub. Hell, Andrew never imagined himself doing much of anything. He certainly never imagined being a witch, but life always had a strange way of subverting Andrew’s expectations.

Life, foster families, and bitches of birth mothers all did the opposite of what Andrew had always wanted. At least when the birth mother died Andrew got magic. And money that bought a nightclub.

Andrew wasn’t proud of things, he didn’t waste time on emotions of happiness or feelings of success. But if there was one thing Andrew was content with in his life, it was what he’d turned Eden’s Twilight into. He’d bought a rundown warehouse for far less than it was valued and turned it into a semi-popular spot with a reputation for being safe from pieces of shit.

Andrew wasn’t proud, but he didn’t fucking hate it.

Eden’s was where Andrew spent most of his nights that didn’t involve magic and vanquishing demons. Aaron and Nicky joined him most nights. But nights like tonight, when Andrew wanted to be alone, he was thankful there was an extra door with a lock in his life that only he had a key to.

Andrew cracked a single eye open when his phone buzzed on the coffee table in front of him.

“What?” Andrew answered.

“Hello to you too,” Nicky chirped, “where are you?”

“Where do you think I am?”

“It was a rhetorical question, Andrew.” Nicky droned on.

Andrew sighed, “That is not what a rhetorical question is, Nicholas.”

Nicky continued on, undeterred, “There’s something weird happening. I was watching the news…”

“Stop the presses!” Andrew cut Nicky off.  

“Don’t be a dick,” Nicky’s eye roll was almost audible, “Anyway, there’s another dead girl in the city.”

“There’s always another dead girl in the city.”

“It fits a pattern, _Andrew_.”

Andrew sighed, “Do you need me to kill something right now?”

“No.”

“Do you need the power of three?” Andrew air quoted the name for his own amusement.

“No.”

“Did you have a vision?”

“No.”

“Then why are you calling me?”

Nicky snapped, “Because there’s a pattern!”

Andrew raked his hand through the blonde curls of his hair, “A pattern doesn’t mean anything without something to go with it. Start reading the Book of Shadows, find out what targets pretty girls and chews them up and we’ll go from there. The only other option is walking around the city in the middle of the night looking for a monster behind some god forsaken fucking dumpster and I am not doing that tonight.”

Nicky was quiet for a few seconds, and when he spoke again his voice was smaller, “I just thought…we just work better when we’re together.”

Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose and sat up from the chair, “We’ll look into it tomorrow.”

“OK!” Nicky’s mood improved instantly, “Also, Aaron told me to tell you that he-”

Andrew hung up before Nicky could finish.

Andrew waited a few seconds to gather his thoughts before pushing himself out of the chair and making his way to the door of his office. He opened the door and was assaulted by the blaring music on the other side sweeping over him. His ears adjusted to the change in volume quickly and he made his way down the stairs and back onto the main floor of the club.

Roland caught his eye from behind the bar and gave Andrew his most impressive smile. Andrew responded with a blank face and his middle finger, he didn’t want Roland getting any ideas about what kind of night it was going to be for him.

Roland gave him a lazy salute and lifted up the partition for Andrew as he got closer to the bar. Andrew nodded his thanks as he edged past Roland, not touching him at all, and reached for a bottle of whiskey. Andrew poured himself a glass, ignoring the glares of customers who were waiting for a bartender to help them, and looked out at the crowd of people on the floor.

“We’re busy tonight,” Andrew said, his eyes sweeping across the throng of people pulsing to the music on the dancefloor.

“Almost at capacity,” Roland nodded, “I told Tony to start holding the line outside.”

“How long is it?” Andrew asked.

Roland hummed, “Last I checked it was about thirty people deep.”

A busy night indeed.

Andrew’s reply was cut off when he glimpsed an annoyingly familiar face in the crowd.

“Detective,” Andrew said, tipping his head backwards to take in all seventeen feet of Detective Matt Boyd, “I was just told we were not letting anyone else in at the moment.”

Boyd grinned, annoyingly, “It’s amazing what a badge helps your get around.”

Andrew rolled his eyes as Boyd opened his jacket and flashed the golden shield at him, “What do you want, piggy?”

Boyd laughed, “As charming as ever, Minyard. I need a favor.”

Andrew sighed, “Of course you do.”

Boyd only ever showed up when he needed help with a…troubling case. Andrew wasn’t entirely sure if Boyd knew what he, Nicky, and Aaron were, but the man knew enough to know when to ask the weird people of the city for help.

“Anyway, there’s-”

Andrew cut Boyd off, “I did not say I was going to help you.”

“You’re not helping me,” Matt shook his head, “you’re helping the city.”

Andrew took a sip of his whiskey, “Fuck the city.”

Boyd shook his head, “You’ve gotten four parking tickets in the last month, I’ll make them disappear.”

Andrew considered it for a moment, it wouldn’t be too much trouble to pay them off, but Andrew also knew the amount of paperwork that Boyd would have to go through to get the tickets wiped out and that amused him.

“Carry on.”

Boyd grinned and pulled an envelope out of his jacket pocket, “It’s loud, can we just go to your office.”

“No.” Andrew wasn’t going anywhere alone with Boyd, even as charming as he appeared to be.

“Right,” Boyd carried on, undeterred, “there’s been another murder. A girl, same as the rest.”

Andrew groaned.

 Of fucking course.

Boyd laughed, “I take it you’re familiar with the case?”

“Keep taking, I’m bored.” Andrew stared at Boyd until he started talking again.

“The murder follows the same general description of the others, pretty, red hair, the usual. The only thing, and we’ve been keeping this from the press, is that all the killings look like an animal attack.”

Andrew quirked an eyebrow.

“Right?” Boyd took that as a sign of interest, “But I think we both know that someone would have reported a mountain lion roaming the streets by now. Also, an animal wouldn’t have a type when it decided to kill someone.”

Andrew crossed his arms, “Animals are smart.”

Boyd shrugged, “There’s also been hair fibers at every crime scene, they all match each other but they don’t belong to a human or any animal on the planet that is on record.”

“Congratulations, you’ve discovered a new species.”

Boyd sighed, “I wouldn’t be coming to you if I had any other leads. I don’t want to know how you find this weird shit out, or how you stop it, but you’re the last thing I can think of to make sure whatever is happening stops.”

Andrew drummed his fingers on the top of the bar, “Bring me the hair fibers.”

Boyd grinned, his bright white teeth a stark contrast against his dark skin, “Already have it.”

Boyd pulled a small plastic bag with a few strands of hair out of the envelope and passed it over the bar to Andrew. Andrew looked at the bag on the bar top and waited for Boyd to withdraw his hand before he snatched it up and shoved it in his pocket.

“I’ll talk to you in a few days.” Andrew said, turning his back to Boyd and ducking under the partition.

Andrew made his way back upstairs into his office, locking the door.

“Kevin!” Andrew shouted.

Andrew waited a few seconds, his foot tapping against the hardwood floor.

“Kevin!” Andrew tried again, yelling louder this time.

Still nothing.

“Kevin, get your ass down here or I will find you and drag you-”

The room erupted into a soft blue light, and Andrew turned his eyes away from the shining figure in the middle of the room until it fully materialized.

A moment later, Kevin stood in the middle of the room, his eyes narrowed at Andrew and a bottle of Vodka in his hand.

“What?” Kevin asked.

Andrew shook his head, “You’re a sorry excuse for a Whitelighter.”

Kevin rolled his eyes, “I knew you weren’t in trouble, I would have come right away if you were.”

Andrew watched as Kevin took a swig of the Vodka straight from the bottle, “You can’t even get drunk.”

Kevin shrugged, “I like the taste.”

Andrew sighed. He’d get rid of Kevin if he could, but they were all stuck together.

Every witch who works towards the greater good is given a Whitelighter. A Whitelighter is supposed to be a guide, a messenger who protects their charge and assists them in the _battle against evil_. Andrew, Aaron, and Nicky ended up with Kevin. Or rather, Andrew made sure they’d ended up with Kevin.

It was all part of a deal that Andrew regretted immensely at times like this.

“Take me home.” Andrew said.

“You have a car,” Kevin sighed, “I’m not your magical taxi.”

“That’s literally what you are.”

“I already had to listen to Nicky bitch about you earlier, I can’t get dragged into anymore of it. I agree with him, by the way. You keep shirking your responsibilities as a witch. You’re an extremely important part of the magical world, you could do so much good, but you only intervene when it suits you.”

Andrew blinked, “Are you done?”

Kevin glared but didn’t say anything else.

“Good,” Andrew said, pulling the plastic bag out of his pocket, “Then you and Nicky will be happy to know that I now find that it suits me to get involved in what is going on. Now, take me home so we can figure out why girls are getting chewed up and spit out all over the city.”

Kevin threw his arms up in the air with a groan, “Let’s go then.”

Andrew nodded as Kevin began to shimmer and stepped into the ball of energy behind him, transporting himself to the living room of their house.


	4. Morality Bites

 

 

 

 

Chapter Four

Morality Bites

 

Andrew appeared in the living room a second later than Kevin, a residual lag from following Kevin into his orb rather than riding along with him by touch.

Back when Kevin first became their Whitelighter it had taken them quite a few attempts at orbing without Andrew being touched. Kevin, naturally, bitched the entire time about how much harder Andrew was making his job. Andrew, in turn, threatened Kevin that if his hands were ever placed upon Andrews body in a moment that it was not 100% required, such as orbing Andrew quickly for his safety, that Andrew would remove that hand from Kevin’s body.

Kevin insisted that it would grow back, being that he was technically a type of heavenly being, and all Andrew had done was look Kevin dead in the eye and ask him if he wanted to test that hypothesis.

Kevin hadn’t touched Andrew since.

Andrew lost his footing as he struggled to reorient himself, bumping into the coffee table and spilling a glass of water on the stack of papers sitting in the center of the large oak table.

“Seriously?” Aaron rushed into the living room, pushing his wire frame glasses up to rest on the top of his head and rubbing at the creases left on the ridge of his nose, “I’ve spent the last two hours taking inventory of our potion ingredients and you waltz in and fuck the list up in two seconds?”

Andrew stared at his brother, blinking a few times before shrugging, “Blame Kevin and his shitty pathfinding.”

Kevin’s eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of his head, “For the last time, Andrew! It’s not my fault you have to do everything the hard way!”

Andrew ignored Kevin and pulled the rag from the bar at Eden’s that he had hanging out of the back pocket of his jeans and threw it onto the stagnant puddle in the middle of the table.

“It’ll ruin the wood.”

Kevin sighed and orbed away.

Andrew stepped around Aaron to get to the foyer of the house. He smoothed down the upturned corner of the rug that ran along the length of the foyer to avoid any more balance mishaps and followed the short hallway to the kitchen to find Nicky.

The kitchen was a mess.

The white countertops were littered with small and large glass bottles containing colored liquids that ran the gamut of the color wheel, mason jars that were filled with thick and sticky otherworldly substances, and hundreds of zip lock bags that stored dried ingredients like fairy wings and the more traditional eye of newt.

Andrew was not going to be the one putting it all away.

Their large, black iron cauldron, Andrew noted, still hadn’t moved from its spot in the kitchen sink. It was still soaking in soapy water after Nicky measured the black tar essence for the shapeshifter vanquishing potion incorrectly and coated the inside of the cauldron with a thick blob the color of blood that hissed at Andrew every time he tried to scrub the thing clean.

Andrew left the kitchen and returned to the living room to find Aaron sitting on the couch and using his magic to separate the pieces of paper as delicately as possible. Andrew sighed and walked around him, heading towards the fireplace and grabbing on of the small vials filled with a few drops of a fire potion that lined the mantle. Andrew threw the vial into the fireplace and took a step back as the logs ignited.

Aaron’s voice came from across the room, “Andrew, it’s fucking hot outside.”

Andrew turned around and stared at his brother, “Hold them over the fire.”

Aaron cocked his head to the side, “What?”

Andrew groaned, “I’m not going to spell it out for you. Where’s Nicky?”

Aaron’s face was askew in confusion for a few more moments until Andrew’s words seemed to penetrate his brain. Aaron stood from the couch and delicately floated the papers towards the fire with his magic and held them suspended a safe distance above the fire, so they could dry out.

Andrew was glad that Kevin who was nowhere in sight. All for the better, Andrew thought, that meant he didn’t have to hear five minutes worth of self-congratulatory speeches from Kevin about how proud he was of Aaron mastering such control with his abilities.

“Last I saw Nicky he was heading upstairs.” Aaron said with his back towards Andrew.

Andrew nodded and made his way back to the foyer, stopping at the base of the staircase.

“Nicky!” Andrew bellowed from the bottom of the stairs. He didn’t feel like climbing them when he’d just be coming right back down after finding Nicky.

“Andrew?” Nicky said in confusion as he stood at the top of the stairs.

Andrew rolled his eyes when he saw how Nicky was dressed. Nicky’s shoulder length dark hair was pulled back into a small ponytail, he had glitter swept along the ridges of his cheekbones, and he was wearing a black crop top with a peach emoji strategically placed behind the word ‘juicy’.

Nicky galloped down the steps, “What’re you doing home?”

Andrew pulled the small bag of mysterious hairs out of his pocket and tossed them at Nicky. The bag hit Nicky in the center of the chest and bounced to the floor. Nicky looked at Andrew with confusion written across his face while Andrew stared pointedly at the baggie on the floor. Nicky bent forward and scooped the baggie off the ground and closed his fingers around it.

Almost immediately, Nicky stood at attention. His body was still, and straight as a board as his eyes grew vacant. Nicky stared off into nothing for a few more seconds until he began blinking rapidly. With a gasp, Nicky stumbled backwards and caught himself on the banister of the stairs.

It finally seemed like Nicky’s gift was coming in handy.

Compared to himself and Aaron, Nicky’s gift of premonitions was the least practical, especially since it only seemed to work half the time and even those were triggered by something random most of the time. He couldn’t really do much with it when they were out tracking down a demon, instead he replied upon potions and written spells for protection.

Still, when Nicky’s visions worked, they worked _well_.

Aaron stuck his head around the corner of the wall, “Did he see something?”

Nicky was still struggling to catch his breath when he looked up and locked eyes with Andrew, “What the hell was that, Andrew?”

Andrew reached forward and plucked the bag from Nicky, “Detective Boyd tracked me down at Eden’s, he had another request for the weird family who always figures shit out.”

Aaron rolled his eyes, “We should get paid for this shit.”

Nicky reached behind his head, pulling his hair tie out and letting his hair fall to his shoulders before running a hand through it, “We do it for the greater good, not money.”

Aaron huffed, “The greater good isn’t paying our bills.”

Nicky threw his hair tie at Aaron, snickering when it hit him in the middle of the forehead.

“What did you see?” Andrew asked, trying to steer the conversation back on course, “I want to get this over with before it takes up anymore of my night.”

Nicky took a deep breath and sat on the bottom step of the stairs, “It was intense, like, crazy scary. Whatever I was seeing wasn’t anything we’ve come across before, it was wild, like an animal.”

Aaron grabbed a pen and his pad of paper and began writing down the details as Nicky described them.

“I could see it from someone else’s perspective, it was an alley somewhere downtown.”

It was always a fucking alley.

“What else?”

“Whatever it was, it moved fast. It stood on two legs, but it was covered in hair. Long claws, and these bright yellow eyes.”

Aaron copied down the description, “That should be enough to start searching through the Book of Shadows. Anything else you remember?”

Nicky nodded, “There was a guy. I think he was the one being attacked.”

“What did he look like?” Andrew asked.

“Short,” Nicky said, “dark red hair, kinda straight with a little wave to it. He was wearing baggy clothes, and he looked kinda dirty.”

“We’re looking for a homeless kid?” Andrew asked.

Nicky shrugged, “It ended with someone on the ground screaming with blood around them.”

“Comforting.” Andrew sighed, raking a hand through his hair, “Go start looking through the Book, see if anything jumps out at you. Whatever this thing is, it’s what is responsible for killing those girls you were talking about earlier.”

Nicky jumped up and cheered, thrusting a finger at Andrew, “I knew it! I knew something weird was going on with that! You didn’t even let me tell you what I figured out before you hung up on me!”

Andrew raised a single eyebrow, it was the only invitation Nicky was going to get to continue.

“I was looking into the girls that were murdered,” Nicky said, reading Andrew’s que, “they were all practicing witches.”

“Wait, really?” Aaron asked, “How did the police miss that?”

Andrew scoffed, “Because they’re the police. Why do you think Boyd came to us? They’re fucking clueless.”  

“Anyway,” Nicky continued, “I called around a few of the local shops and it doesn’t seem like any of the girls were into anything really crazy, and none of them were known to associate with each other.”

Aaron scribbled down another note, “Something is going around and killing witches who kinda look like each other. That’s a pattern, right?”

Andrew shrugged, “I guess we’ll find out.”

 

III

 

Neil followed the pulling sensation in his chest through the narrow streets of downtown San Francisco. Whatever magic he was feeling was acting like a homing beacon, and the feeling in his chest pulsed slightly when he was going in the correct direction. Distantly, Neil heard his mothers voice in the back of his head. She was berating him, calling him every name under the sun she could think of to convey how stupid he was being right now.

His mother never would have allowed him to follow something that could so obviously be a trap. She would have magically bound him to one place before she’d let him run off like this. But she was dead, so Neil was free to be a reckless as he wanted.

Part of Neil didn’t even care that it could be a trap. Part of Neil was so tired.

Tired of running.

Tired of feeing.

Tired of being fucking tired.

 If it was a trap, then it was a trap. Neil would do what he always did, he’d fight his way out or he’d died. Neil had no delusions that he’d survive much longer on his own. His only goal had been to get out of the underworld, to get out of the grasp of the demons who had him at their mercy.

Neil wouldn’t let himself be taken back, he’d make sure he died before that happened.

Neil fingered the small vial he had in the front of his hoodie. It was another potion he’d crafted quickly in the underworld, though it was designed to take himself to safety. The potion that Neil kept close to himself was something only a few people knew about, something that his mother had taught him to brew.

Neil’s fingers danced around the potion he could use to kill himself if he had to.

Neil shook his head and withdrew his hands from the front pocket of the hoodie, pushing the thought of the potion out of his mind. He didn’t plan on using it unless he absolutely had to.

The buildings began to space apart more the longer that Neil walked. He found that half of them were shut down, their windows papered up and covered in for sale or for lease signs. Every so often he’d pass and store front that was still in operation, but it was almost midnight, so they were all darkened inside.

All except one of them.

Neil came to a stop under a dimly lit awning. There was no name on the storefront. The interior of the shop was obscured by vertical blinds, but Neil could see soft light filtering around the edges. Whatever the place was it was still open.

The pulse in Neil’s chest had stopped completely ever since he arrived at the storefront. Whatever was drawing him in was inside the building. Neil reached out and placed a hesitant hand on the doorknob, thinking for only a few more seconds before he turned it and opened the door.

A small bell jingled overhead as Neil stepped inside the shop. His senses were overwhelmed almost immediately. The shop was warm, but it wasn’t stifling or uncomfortable. It was soft and inviting, almost like having a blanket draped over his shoulders. The aroma of the shop was hard to explain, one moment Neil would smell fragrant herbs that he was used to, and then almost as quickly the smell would be overtaken by something sweet smelling like hot chocolate.

The place was nice. It was almost too nice.

Neil was reminded of Hansel and Gretel as he ambled through the shop. He kept an eye out for any ovens.

“Hello?” A soft voice filtered though the store, “Is someone there?”

Neil paused, tensing where he stood. He slipped his hand into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his athame as he waited for the source of the voice to make itself known.

“Hello?” The voice asked again, this time closer, “I know I heard someone come in.”

Neil waited until a middle age woman stepped into view.

Neil would guess she was around his height, maybe a little taller. She had dark brown hair that was cut into a bob that hung loosely, framing her plump face. She had a soft smile, and kind eyes that were set behind a pair of soft pink glasses. She had tiny crystal figures in each of her hands that she sat down on a shelf nearby when she saw Neil.

“Hello.” The woman said, her lips curving into a small smile, “I knew I wasn’t hearing things.”

“Uh, hi.” Neil said, sounding surprised of his own voice.

The woman’s smile didn’t falter, “I don’t usually get visitors this late at night, especially not one’s whom I’ve never met before.”

“Sorry,” Neil said, again unsure of why he was even speaking, “I…”

The woman shook her head, “It’s fine, anyone who needs this place can find it.”

Neil’s brow drew together in confusion, “I don’t understand? What is this place?”

The woman laughed, “It’s a few things. It’s a store, a café, and a safe haven.”

“Safe haven?” Neil repeated.

He didn’t like how thrown off he felt.

The woman nodded, “It’s a place people like us feel drawn to if they’re looking for somewhere safe.”

Neil’s eyes went wide, “People like us?”

“Witches.” She said, “You wouldn’t have been able to find it if you weren’t looking for somewhere safe.”

Neil blanched, taking a step backwards. How did this woman know what he was looking for? Was she in his head? Was this all a trap?

The woman must have realized what was happening. She took a few steps backwards and held up both of her hands.

“Please don’t be scared. I’m sorry, I assumed you knew you were looking for me. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

“Who are you?” Neil asked, his voice quivering, “Did they send you?”

The woman shook her head, “No one sent me. I’ve run this place for quite a long time. My name is Bee.”

“Bee?” Neil repeated, “Why did you bring me here?”

Bee still held her hands up, making no attempt to move.

“I didn’t bring you here,” Bee said, “this place is spelled to act as a beacon for witches who are in trouble and need somewhere to stay.”

Neil shook his head, “I don’t believe that. You’d just be inviting danger into your front door.”

Bee shook her head, “No. The spell is a powerful one, it doesn’t reveal itself to anyone with ill intentions.”

Neil laughed bitterly, “Well then your spell is truly fucked if it brought me here.”

Bee smiled, “I don’t think so. You’ve got multiple potions on yourself, and you still haven’t drawn that athame in your pocket. I’m very obviously defenseless, you could do quite a lot of damage before I’d even realize what was happening.”

Neil’s jaw dropped, his fingers tightened around the athame, but he still didn’t draw it.

Bee slowly lowered her hands, “I can’t put up much of a fight. I’m not that strong when it comes to offensive magic, but I’ve trained for decades in other types. Trust me, if you truly meant me or anyone in this building any harm then you would not have been able to enter.”

 Neil unfurled his fingers from the hilt of the athame and slowly withdrew his hand from his pocket. He looked around the shop properly for the first time and was amazed at what he saw.

The walls were lined with shelves and drawers, all plastered with handwritten cards detailing ingredients that Neil was immensely familiar with. Neil’s eyes danced across the store, and he was constantly shocked by what he saw. Bee had hundreds of insanely rare ingredients out in the open.

Strands of aconite imbued silver silk, goblin claws, unicorn teeth, ground minotaur horns, light from a burnt-out star, and even the scales of a mermaid.

Neil was overwhelmed. How the hell did this woman amass this type of collection when Neil knew for a fact that there were at least thirty things within arm’s reach that people would literally kill for.

Bee seemed to be reading his mind again, and it made Neil even more uncomfortable.

“I don’t source much of it myself,” Bee said, “some of it I’ve gotten in trade, some of it has been brought to me, and some of it has been donated. I’ve never taken anything by force.”

“How are you still alive?” Neil wondered out loud. His father would burn the city to the ground looking for some of the things in this building.

Bee smiled, “Like I said, this place is protected by a very powerful spell.”

Neil was at a loss for words. Was it possible that Bee was as benevolent as she appeared? He thought back to the potion he’d crafted in the underworld. It was supposed to bring him somewhere safe and Neil had spent hours wandering the streets confused as to why the potion dropped him off in San Francisco of all places.

Could Neil really be safe here?

“You look exhausted,” Bee said suddenly, “when was the last time you slept?”

Neil flinched away from the question, coiling in on himself. It’d been days.

Bee didn’t move by she angled her head towards the stairs, “There are beds upstairs, you’re more than welcome to take one for however long you need.”

Neil shook his head furiously, “No. I can’t.”

“It’s really no trouble, I promise you you’ll be left undisturbed.”

Neil laughed bitterly, wouldn’t that be amazing.

“I’m not.” Neil gritted his teeth together, “I’m not sleeping. If you want to help, then you’ll give me something to keep me awake.”

Bee nodded, “I can help you with that. Under one condition.”

Neil swallowed deeply, “What?”

What could she want from him?

“Answer two questions for me.”

Neil let out a shaky breath. That was better than he was expecting. He nodded. After all, he could always lie.

“Why don’t you want to sleep?” Bee asked.

Neil didn’t miss a beat, he was expecting that question.

“I don’t want them to find me.”

Bee nodded, “Why did you feel you needed protection?”

“Demons are after me,” Neil said, hedging the truth, “I just ended up here.”

Neil didn’t want to let her know that his powers were bound. He couldn’t afford to give away that weakness.

“Let me grab a few things from the back and I can brew you something to keep you awake for a little longer.” Bee said, smiling before turning her back to Neil and disappearing through a brightly colored curtain.

Neil moved the second she was out of view, opening his bag and plucking ingredients from the nearby shelves at random. He wasn’t staying, he’d already said too much for some reason and he couldn’t afford to trust any random women in hidden magical shops.

The bag was full to the brim by the time Neil located everything he’d need to brew himself a nice set of potions to keep him from falling asleep. He zipped it up and slung it back over his shoulder, taking great care to not break any of the glass he’d piled at the bottom of the bag. He had enough, he thought, to brew a number of potions to keep himself safe for a little while longer.

Maybe that was why the portal sent him to San Francisco, it knew where he could get everything he’d need to survive on his own.

Before Bee could return, Neil slipped out the front door and let all thoughts of the strange shop and the seemingly kind woman melt away from his mind.

 He had no time for guilt.

 

III

 

“Wendigo!”

Nicky’s shrill voice rang down from the attic and through the entire house.

Andrew looked up from his spot on the couch just in time to see Nicky run into the living room, sliding across the floor a bit before he could come to a complete stop. He had the Book of Shadows in his arms and opened it, quickly flipping through the pages before cheering in victory.

Nicky sat the book on the coffee table and spun it around so it was facing Andrew, “This is what I saw in my vision. A Wendigo is what’s been killing those girls!”

Andrew leaned forward to inspect the page. Like the rest of the entries in the book, there was an incredibly detailed back and white drawing of the creature accompanied by a handwritten description done by one of their ancestors.

The Wendigo, to put it simply, was fucking ugly. It was mostly humanoid, but it’s entire body was covered in hair. A long, billowing mane sat atop its head and hung down past it’s shoulders making it look like a weird Rob Zombie convention reject. Its face was scrunched together with the nose almost completely gone. The most surprising part were its teeth, which were relatively normal.

Aaron appeared over Andrew’s shoulder and read the description of the Wendigo out loud, “ _The Wendigo is a non-dead creature that roams the earth. His fate is to wander the Earth feasting on human hearts. The first Wendigo was a mortal who was betrayed by his sweetheart. In revenge for the treachery, he slew his love and ate her heart. Rather than savor the warmth of revenge, his heart was in turn, turned to ice. During daylight hours and the phases of the moon, the Wendigo looks as you or I. Beware being attacked and injured. He duplicates himself by slashing, but not killing his prey._ ”

Andrew hummed to himself. It uses its claws rather than teeth, that would explain the large talons on its hand in the drawing.

“We’re just looking for a dude that got turned into a monster and is mad he got dumped?” Nicky sighed, “That’s like, half of San Francisco.”

Andrew considered it for a second before shaking his head, “Something’s not right.”

“What do you mean?” Aaron asked.

Andrew pointed to the description, “It says the Wendigo eats hearts. None of the people who were killed had their hearts eaten.”

Nicky laughed, “Maybe he’s on a diet?”

Andrew and Aaron both glared at him.

Nicky took a step back and held his hands up, “That’s what I saw though! I know it is!”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t a Wendigo,” Andrew said, “I just said that there’s something different with this one.”

Aaron held up their plastic bag with the hair in it, “So this is Wendigo…fur?”

Nicky nodded, “Most likely. We can use it to scry for the Wendigo, see if it’s in the city tonight.”

“What do we do once we find it?” Aaron asked, “Does it say how to kill one?”

Andrew turned the page and read the second entry out loud, “ _Destroy the Wendigo by melting his heart of ice, fire is the key. Show no mercy, he will show none to you. If a person has been injured but not slain by the Wendigo, said person will only be made whole by the complete destruction of the Wendigo._ ”

“So, fire?” Nicky wondered out loud, “We don’t need a vanquishing spell or anything? That seems too easy.”

Aaron picked up the Book and looked at it closer, “It says here that we need to include aconite in any kind of potion before we can kill it.”

“Aconite?” Nicky asked.

“Wolfsbane.” Andrew said.

Aaron sighed, “I didn’t see any when I was going through everything earlier.”

“Great,” Nicky deflated and flopped onto the armchair nearest to him, “now what?”

“I can get the aconite.” Andrew said as he stood from the couch.

“Bee?” Aaron asked.

Andrew nodded once. Bee was a sore subject between the two of them and Andrew wasn’t in the mood to pick at that open wound right now, not when they had more important things to do.

“Nicky, scry for the Wendigo while I’m gone,” Andrew said, “Aaron, brew the potion and I’ll add the aconite to it when I get back, I shouldn’t be gone long.”

Nicky nodded and pulled the necklace off from around his neck, holding his clear crystal he used for scrying in his hand before taking off to the map in the kitchen. Aaron stayed behind for a few more seconds, silently staring at Andrew. Andrew figured he was trying to work up the nerve to say something. Andrew raised a single eyebrow in a question and Aaron deflated, dropping his shoulders and following after Nicky.

“Kevin!” Andrew called out.

Kevin promptly answered his call this time, appearing in a flash of blue and white light in front of Andrew.

“What?” Kevin asked, this time absent an open bottle of vodka.

“Wendigo,” Andrew said, “I need you to take me to Bee so I can get some aconite from her.”

Kevin seemed surprised, “You figured it out that quickly?”

Andrew sighed, “Contrary to popular belief, I would not actually sit around while a magical creature is out killing people.”

Kevin narrowed his eyes and shoved his hands in his pocket, “If only you were this motivated all the time! Why did it have to take a cop trading you a favor to get to actually give a shit?”

Andrew tutted, “Kevin, Kevin, Kevin. How many times have we had this conversation? Why must you insist on bringing it so often?”

“Because it’s my job, Andrew! It’s my job to guide the three of you so you use the power you have for the greater good!”

Andrew’s fingers were itching to slide beneath his armbands, “Then guide me to Bee’s.”

Kevin opened and closed his mouth a few times before letting out a low growl and disappearing into an orb of blue light.

Andrew followed Kevin through a second later, ending up at the top of Bee’s staircase rather than directly next to Kevin like he’d have been if he travelled through the more conventional method.

Andrew descended the steps and found Bee talking to Kevin from behind her desk.

“Andrew!” Bee smiled, “I figured you were around if Kevin was here.”

“Hello, Bee.” Andrew nodded, “You can go now, Kevin.”

Kevin narrowed his eyes and glared at Andrew. Andrew stood there, his face blank and impassive, and waited Kevin out.

“Whatever.” Kevin grumbled before orbing away.

Bee laughed softly, “You should be nicer to him, he’s your Whitelighter.”

“He’s a pain in the ass is what he is.” Andrew said, walking over to Bee’s tea kettle and pouring himself a glass of hot water. Bee didn’t stop him as he opened a few drawers and pulled out packages of hot chocolate and dumped them into his special mug.

“What’s on your mind?” Bee asked.

Andrew shook his head, “It’s not one of those visits.”

Nothing was particularly bothering Andrew, he just wanted hot chocolate.

“Ah,” Bee said, standing and smoothing out her ruffled skirt, “how can I help?”

Andrew studied her over the rim of his mug, noting that she didn’t seem as put together as she normally did. It probably wouldn’t have been noticeable to the average person, but Andrew had spent countless hours in conversation with Bee over the last few years and he knew how to tell her moods like the back of his hand.

“What’s wrong?” Andrew asked sharply.

Bee laughed and waved a hand at him, “It’s nothing, just an incident a few minutes ago.”

Andrew sat the mug down on the desk and rushed to her side, “What happened? Are you hurt?”

Bee shook her head, “No, Andrew. I promise you I’m fine, I appreciate your concern. I just had a few items that were…borrowed from the shop without my knowledge.”

Andrew’s rage flared, but he smothered it down as best as he could, “Who was it?”

Bee shook her head, “Someone who very much needed what they took.”

Andrew opened his mouth to refute that statement, but Bee shook her head.

“Enough of that,” Bee said, “What was it you needed?”

Andrew took a deep breath, filing away what Bee had told him for a later time. No one was going to get away with stealing from Bee.

“There’s a Wendigo in the city,” Andrew said, “I need something for the potion we’re using to kill it.”

Bee gasped, “Don’t tell me that’s what has been killing those girls?”

Andrew nodded, “Nicky is scrying for it, if it’s in the city tonight we’ll find it.”

Bee nodded, “What was it you needed?”

“The Book says we need to add aconite in the potion to weaken it before killing it,” Andrew said, “we don’t have any.”

Bee’s smile dropped, and she pinched the bridge of her nose, “Oh dear. I believe we may have a problem after all.”

“Your aconite was taken?” Andrew guessed.

“I’m afraid so.” Bee frowned.

“How long ago was it? Who did it?”

Bee sighed, “Probably ten minutes. It was a young boy, Andrew. He didn’t mean me any harm, he needed the protection.”

Andrew didn’t give a fuck if Bee’s fancy spell deemed the asshole worthy enough to step in her shop. The kid had what Andrew needed, and he fucked with Bee.

Andrew cracked his knuckles before heading towards the front door of Bee’s shop.

Time to kill two birds with one stone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess which two idiots finally get to meet next chapter???


	5. The Wendigo

Chapter Five

The Wendigo

 

Andrew stepped out of Bee’s shop and back into the streets of Sn Francisco. The wind had a particular bite to it. It wasn’t exactly cold, but it was enough to make Andrew pull the collar of his jacket up towards his ears. He surveyed the area in front of him, which was blocked off by another row of buildings across the street. That meant that Bee’s thief had only two options for escape, either left or right.

There was no real way of tracking the thief, he didn’t have the time or any personal items to scry with, so Andrew could only use his other instincts to lead him in the right direction. He looked at the sidewalk going in each direction, trying to find any disturbances that would let him know he was going in the right direction.

Andrew found the first clue a few feet down the sidewalk to his left.

A spool of thin silver rested in the middle of the sidewalk. Andrew walked towards it and scooped it off the ground, turning it back and forth in his hand. The silver thread glinted in the moonlight, showing off flecks of purple woven into the spool.

It was the silver infused aconite that Andrew came for in the first place.

“Curiouser and curiouser.” Andrew said quietly to himself as he shoved the spool of silver into his dark jeans.

He had two choices now, he could either go back to Nicky and Aaron to find the Wendigo or he could continue down the path and find the thief.

Andrew kept walking.

There were no other items on the ground, no trail of breadcrumbs to lead him to the idiot that stole from Bee. Still, Andrew knew he was going in the right direction. He couldn’t exactly explain it, but he felt a swelling of magical energy with every step he took.

The road itself had narrowed off into a smaller one-way street that the city loved, and Andrew hated. The sidewalk got slimmer as the spaces between buildings grew, leaving ample space for back alleyways. The alleys were perfect hiding spots for someone if they were trying to get a jump on Andrew, but Andrew was always ready for that.

His athame was still safely sheathed in his armband, but his hands were up and ready to stop anything that tried to surprise him.

Andrew had to admit that ever since he gained access to his powers, the idea of getting into a fight wasn’t as exciting as it used to be. Andrew used to love getting into a good brawl, he loved the idea of hurting someone who deserved it. The knives were always his go to, a quick and easy way to cause lasting damage. But what good were knives if Andrew could just stop a fight with a wave of his hands before it even began?

Maybe he’d go at the thief without his power. It was a destructive thought, but no one ever accused Andrew of being anything other than that.

A loud crash came from up the block. Andrew tensed, reflexively pulling the athame from his armband. He didn’t quite run towards the sound, but he moved at a pace that was quicker than his usual lazy gait. The sounds grew louder the closer that Andrew got.

Another crash.

A growl.

A flurry of curse words.

A howl.

“Fuck.” Andrew said, breaking out into a run.

It was just Andrew’s fucking luck that he would stumble upon the Wendigo while chasing down Bee’s thief.

A flash of fire illuminated the street in front of Andrew. The Wendigo howled and rolled out into the street.

It was just as ugly as the drawing in the Book. It pushed itself up from the ground and stood on its hind legs, a grossly matted mane of hair blowing in the wind. It didn’t spare a single glace at Andrew before it bared its teeth and leapt back into the alley.

Andrew followed the Wendigo, rounding the corner and paused in surprise with what he saw. Andrew stood still as a sense of déjà vu washed over him.

There was a boy standing at the back of the alley, cornered against the wall. The dying embers from the fire Andrew saw earlier provided just enough light for Andrew to see what was happening.

The boy was short, though Andrew noted with more than a little annoyance that he was taller than Andrew himself. The flickering light of the fire reflected against the boys dark red hair and showed off a slender frame that was swallowed up by dirty, baggy clothes.

It was Nicky’s fucking vision.

The boy crouched down into a fighting position, pulling a long silver athame out of his pocket that was remarkably similar to Andrew’s own. The Wendigo lunged forward, swiping a gnarly claw towards the boy. The boy ducked and easily rolled out of the way of the blow, slipping behind the Wendigo and swiping the blade across the Wendigo’s back.

The Wendigo screamed in pain and sent its elbow flying backwards, colliding with the boy’s face and sending him flying across the alley. The boy slammed against the brick wall and let out a sharp hiss as he rebounded back onto the concrete.

Andrew hung back at the mouth of the alley. There wasn’t much he could do without the rest of the potion Aaron had brewed. Sure, he could rush in and take some heat off the thief but who’s to say he deserved it? If the kid was dead it would be a lot easier to take back Bee’s stolen items, and maybe the kid would weaken the Wendigo enough for the three of them to step in and vanquish it without a struggle.

Andrew watched as the boy crawled to the ratty backpack nearby. He slipped his hand inside and pulled out a small vial, a potion.

The boy stood, his head tracking the Wendigo as it moved. He reeled his arm back and threw the potion towards the Wendigo. The vial hit the Wendigo in the center of its chest, shattering and engulfing the beast in flames a moment later.

The Wendigo howled again as it fell onto the ground, rolling back and forth in an attempt to smother the flames. Andrew watched the beast writhe in pain for another second before it twitched once and stopped moving.

The boy smiled and turned his head up towards the sky. The moonlight caught his face and allowed Andrew to really see the boy for the first time.

A few things jumped out at Andrew.

One, the boy had a long scar on his cheek, starting from the crest of his cheekbone and running almost completely down to the edge of his jaw. It was raw and red, as if it had just finished healing.

Two, the boy’s eyes were blue. Impossibly blue.

Three, the boy was gorgeous.

It didn’t mean that Andrew wasn’t prepared to let the boy die, it just meant that Andrew had eyes and he could appreciate the aesthetic of someone before he watched them get violently ripped into pieces.

The boy, in addition to being stupidly attractive, was also an idiot. Andrew watched in silence as the boy paid no attention to the Wendigo behind him. He’d obviously thought he’d killed it, but Andrew was willing to bet that there was no silver aconite in the potion he hit the Wendigo with.

The boy stood and gathered his things, brushing the dirt off his pants before slinging the bag over his shoulder. The boy was blissfully unaware to Andrew’s presence, so much so that Andrew could have slipped in and killed him at any point.

Well.

“I know you’re there,” the boy said, his voice smooth, “you enjoy the show?”

Andrew was glad he was still in the shadows because he felt his eyes go wide with surprise.

“Listen,” the boy continued, “unless you came with that thing, I’m just going to walk out of here and we can pretend this didn’t happen.”

Andrew held the athame in plain sight and stepped out of the shadows, “And if I did come with it?”

The boy’s eyes tracked Andrew’s movement’s. They zeroed in on the athame first before scanning over Andrew the way a trapped animal looks for a way out when cornered.

The boy wasn’t as dumb as Andrew thought.

“Doubtful,” the boy said, “Wendigo’s don’t really work with other people, just for. And you’re not exactly the kind of commanding presence a Wendigo would respect. Full offense.”

So, the boy wasn’t  _dumb_ , but he was an  _idiot_.

Andrew remained impassive, “Do you usually talk to someone with a knife like that?”

The boy’s bitter laughter filled the alley, bouncing around the space like a chorus of untold stories.

“And then some.” The boy said, his mouth twisted into a dark grin.

“Interesting.” Andrew said, mostly to himself.

“Whatever you say,” the boy shook his head, “listen, if you’re going to try and kill me can we at least move it somewhere else? That thing over there is going to wake up any time now and I’d rather not be here when it does.”

Three for three, Andrew thought. The boy might be a problem.

“Whatever,” the boy said, pulling the strap of his back to his chest, “you can be here when it wakes up.”

The boy walked towards Andrew, but Andrew noticed that he dropped his athame back in his pocket. Andrew slid his own back beneath his armband, though it was slightly against his better judgment. But just because he put his weapon away it didn’t mean that Andrew was willing to let the boy leave. He still needed to get Bee’s things back.

“You took something that didn’t belong to you.” Andrew said.

The boy groaned, “I knew it was a bad idea.”

“At least you’re smart enough to know that,” Andrew said dully, “I’ll only cut off one of your fingers if you give the bag back to me now.”

The boy laughed, “I’d like to see you try.”

Andrew shook his head, “You really wouldn’t.”

The boy was close to Andrew now, close enough for Andrew to reach out and take the bag from him by force. The boy was quick though, much faster than Andrew anticipated. He stepped to the side as Andrew’s hand reached out and spun out of the way.

Andrew stumbled forward a few steps and braced himself against the wall.

“Nice try. I need these a lot more than that woman though.” The boy said with his back to Andrew.

“That woman has a name.” Andrew said.

He felt the anger growing inside himself, partly at the disrespect of Bee and partly because this arrogant little shit didn’t even care about leaving his back exposed to Andrew.

The boy was less than a block away when Andrew looked around the corner. He stepped out onto the sidewalk and cracked his knuckled.

No more playing around.

Andrew waved his hands in front of himself. He felt a wave of satisfaction when the asshole stopped walking mid step, one leg frozen in mid-air.

That would teach the asshole. He’d be in for a rude awakening when he realized that Andrew had just pilfered the bag back from him without breaking a sweat.

Andrew walked towards the boy but after two steps, the boy kept walking again.

Andre came to a stop as he watched the boy walk further away from him.

The boy looked over his shoulder, “You’re still there?”

Andrew froze the boy again. This time the boy’s face froze mid blink with his mouth open and his tongue almost hanging out. Andrew distantly made a note of how he still looked attractive like that.

Andrew walked towards the boy again, and the boy unfroze after another step.

“The only way you’re getting this back from me is if-”

Andrew froze him again.

The boy unfroze.

“-you take it from-”

Andrew froze him.

“-me.”

Andrew had managed to gain a grand total of three steps on the boy. He was as close to shock as he’d ever been. Andrew had never seen anything like this, nothing had ever broken out of being frozen that fast. Even Aaron and Nicky would usually be stuck for at least a few seconds, usually longer.

But this boy? He was breaking out of it in under a second and didn’t even seem to realize what was happening in the first place.

Andrew was pissed.

Andrew was also intrigued.

The boy was walking again, his back still exposed to Andrew. Something inside held Andrew back and stopped him from taking advantage of the opening.

Instead, Andrew asked, “What are you?”

The boy stopped walking abruptly. It was as if all the wind was knocked out of him. He went still as a board.

Andrew saw the boy’s shoulder tense. Andrew watched the rise and fall of the boy’s breath as it choreographed itself though the boys back. The boy was counting his breathes, Andrew’s brain supplied.

Interesting.

“I asked you a question.” Andrew said as he took a step forward.

One of the boy’s fists clenched. It twitched, like he was fighting his instincts to reach from the athame in his pocket.

“Someone who’s leaving.” The boy said.

Andrew clicked his tongue, “Not good enough.”

The boy turned on his heel, anger radiating through his eyes. He ripped the bag off his back and opened it.

“Fine!” The boy shouted, “You want this so bad? Take it, I’ll split it with you. You can take half of it back to the woman in the shop and I’ll take the other half, I’ll throw in some money to pay for what I took. Just leave me the fuck alone.”

“Interesting,” Andrew hummed, his voice long and drawn out, “if I knew all it took was to ask you for your bio I could have saved myself a lot of time.”

The boy rolled his eyes, “Bite me, short stack.”

Andrew blinked slowly, “That was wholly unoriginal. What 90’s teen comedy did you pilfer that from?”

The boy held Andrew’s stare as he tipped the bag over, spilling out half of its contents onto the ground. One of the glass vials with fairy dust cracked as it hit the ground.

Andrew wagged his finger, “Ah ah, you break it then you buy it.”

“Fuck off!” The boy growled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a wad of cash before throwing it on the ground, “There! That’s more than enough.”

Andrew gave the stack of money a bored glance, “Bee doesn’t deal in money, it’s of no use to her.”

“I don’t know what to tell you then, you can take it or leave it but I’m leaving.”

Andrew couldn’t resist poking even more, “You’re in such a rush, afraid of running into someone else you stole from?”

The boy was silent. Andrew made a mental note of how he wouldn’t even look at Andrew.

Another point in Andrew’s favor it seemed.

Andrew had a choice to make. He could let the boy go, take half of Bee’s items back and figure out a way to replace the rest for her. Or, he could stop the boy and hold him out the house until they got everything figured out.

Andrew’s choice was put on the backburner when he heard a snarl from behind. He turned to see the Wendigo rushing down the street towards him.

 

III

 

Neil really, really wanted to give the asshole an I told you so, but he was silenced by the unmistakable glow of a Whitelighter.

The blue orbs swarmed in front of the short asshole, collecting and dispersing, until three more people stood in the middle of the narrow street. One of them, the Whitelighter, was taller than the rest with dark hair. Another was slightly shorter than the Whitelighter, with shoulder length brown hair and light brown skin. The last was the same height as the short asshole, and had the same blonde curls on his head, though the second one’s hair was clipped shorter.

Twins, Neil’s mind supplied unhelpfully for the two blondes. 

Short asshole number two stepped to the front of the ground, waving a single hand out towards the Wendigo. The Wendigo was pushed through the air and slammed through the window of an unoccupied building with a whimper.

“You should have kept it in sight,” the Whitelighter said, “now we don’t know where it will attack from next.”

“Fuck off, Kevin.” Short asshole number two said.

“Don’t be rude, Aaron.” The taller one with brown hair said.

“Fuck off, Nicky.”

Neil listed off the names in his head.

Kevin. Aaron. Nicky.

The only name he was missing now was short asshole number one’s, though he didn’t plan on sticking around long enough to figure it out. The Wendigo attack gave Neil the perfect distraction to escape.

“What are you doing here?” Short asshole asked.

“We were scrying for the Wendigo and when it showed up so close to Bee’s we had Kevin take us to you.” Nicky said.

“Did you bring the potion?”

Nicky rolled his eyes, “How dumb do you think I am, Andrew?”

Short asshole, now Andrew, leveled Nicky with a look that would have made Neil laugh under any other circumstance.

Andrew pulled a silver spool of thread out of his pocket and slipped out his athame. He cut a strand free, twisting it and letting the silver show off flecks of purple in the moonlight.

“Dammit.” Neil said under his breath, it was the silver aconite he was looking for earlier when the Wendigo attacked him. It must have fallen out of his bag.

Andrew grabbed the potion from Aaron and popped the top off before dropping the silver aconite into the vial. The potion bubbled, a bit of smoke wafting out of the top before Andrew recorked the vial.

Andrew looked over his shoulder at Neil, “I hope you’re not thinking of going anywhere.”

That drew the attention of the rest of the crowd. Suddenly Neil was being examined by four sets of eyes and it made him terribly uncomfortable.

“Who the hell is that?” Aaron asked.

“Hey!” Nicky’s face split into a grin, “It’s the guy from my vision!”

Vision? Why was a random witch in San Francisco having a vision about him?

“That’s the innocent?” Kevin looked skeptical.

Andrew scoffed, “That little rabbit is far from innocent.”

Neil was torn. He knew he should run, but he was already weak and sleep deprived and didn’t know if he could take on three witches and their Whitelighter who could be anywhere he wanted to be in seconds. All he could do was hope that the Wendigo got to them first.

The Wendigo burst through the building, diving straight for the group of four. Andrew pulled Aaron off to the side, both of them tumbling through the street and out of the way. Kevin grabbed Nicky by the collar of his shirt and orbed them further down the street towards Neil.

Neil tensed when he realized how close Nicky was to him. He pulled out the athame and tightened his grip around the hilt of the blade.

The Wendigo stood between both groups, it’s yellow eyes darting between each set of people like it was trying to decide who to go for first.

“Aaron?” Andrew asked out loud.

“I’m fine.” Aaron said as he stood up, “The potion?”

Neil frowned as he looked at the smoking puddle of liquid in the middle of the street. Andrew had lost the potion in the fall.

“Crap.” Nicky sighed.

Kevin shook his head, though it looked like he expected the turn of events all along.

The Wendigo seemed to settle on a target. It zeroed in on Andrew and ran towards him at full speed. Andrew stood in the middle of the street, seemingly unfazed, and held out his hands. Just when it seemed like the Wendigo was close enough to tear Andrew apart, Andrew held out his hands and waved them in front of the Wendigo.

The Wendigo stopped moving in the middle of the road. Its arm was pulled back towards its head, ready to swipe its claws at Andrew, but it didn’t move.

Neil had heard about powers like this, but he’d never expected to see them in action. First the telekinesis from Aaron, then the mention of Nicky having visions, and now molecular control from Andrew?

Neil shook his head, it wasn’t possible. The stories that Neil had heard when he was younger were myths, a way to scare him into behaving.

There were no such things as Charmed ones, or at least, there hadn’t been for quite a long time.

Andrew stepped around the frozen Wendigo and marched towards Neil. His athame was out now and he looked annoyed, which was the most expressive Neil had seen Andrew’s face yet.

“You, rabbit.” Andrew said, pointing the tip of his blade at Neil.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Don’t care, not listening,” Andrew said, “I hope you have another fire potion in there.”

Neil shook his head, “I used the last one in the first fight.”

Andrew rolled his eyes, “Of course you did. You used all the fire potions when you knew it wouldn’t kill the thing without the aconite.”

Neil pointed his athame at Andrew in return, “What else was I supposed to do? Let it kill me? Or worse, let it scratch me and change me?”

Andrew narrowed his eyes, “You don’t want me to answer that question.”

Neil sighed, “Fuck off, I’m out of here.”

Neil turned on his heel and walked away from the group behind him, intending to put as much distance between himself and San Francisco by sunrise.

“Ah ah, where do you think you’re going?” Andrew’s voice rang out from behind Neil.

Neil ignored it and kept walking.

“Aaron.” Andrew said.

Suddenly, Neil’s feet were ripped from under him and he was flying through the air. Neil lost his grip on his athame as he flew, and he left out a sharp cry when he landed on the ground in front of Andrew. Andrew kicked Neil in the stomach, knocking all the air out of his lungs. Neil’s arms collapsed under him and he fell face first onto the pavement. Andrew tapped Neil with the toe of his boot and rolled him over onto his side, lifting his foot for a second before lowering it on Neil’s throat and pushing down lightly.

Neil felt more powerless than he had since escaping the underworld. His powers were bound, he had no potion to use, and his athame was who knew how many feet away from him on the ground. He was powerless under Andrew’s heel.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Andrew’s voice was low and deadly, “Nicky and Aaron are going to go through what you took from Bee, and hopefully there will be enough in there for another potion. You’re going to help me keep the Wendigo occupied, it won’t stay still for much longer.”

Neil stayed silent.

“How about this, I’ll make you a deal.” Andrew lifted his foot from Neil’s neck, but he was quickly on his knees and pressing his athame to Neil’s throat, “You help me kill the Wendigo and I’ll let you walk away from here.”

“Fuck off.” Neil spat.

Andrew pressed the blade into the flesh of Neil’s throat, “I’ve had enough of that mouth for one night. There are four of us and one of you. I’ve got your blood now, I could use it to scry for you wherever you ran.”

Neil didn’t doubt that Andrew would try to find him, but he knew he could hide just as easily if Andrew did. But Neil was already hiding from one group and didn’t feel like he needed the added pressure of another one.

It would be over in minutes, they just had to distract the Wendigo long enough for a new potion to be cobbled together.

“Fine.” Neil said between gritted teeth, “You’re going to regret it if you’re not telling the truth.”

Andrew pressed the blade in again before withdrawing it, “I always tell the truth.”

Neil pushed himself up from the ground and retrieved his athame, flipping it over in his hands.

“How are we doing this?” Neil asked.

“I don’t care how you do it,” Andrew said, “just distract it.”

“Don’t let it scratch you, you’ll turn if we don’t kill it.” Neil said in return, unsure of why he was offering Andrew advice.

Andrew nodded and stood behind the Wendigo.

Neil took up Andrew’s previous position in front of the beast, crouching so the Wendigo’s claw would sail over his head.

Andrew unfroze the Wendigo and it continued as if nothing had happened. It took another step forward, but Neil was ready and waiting. He sprung up from under the Wendigo and drove his athame into its jaw before ripping it out and rolling away from it.

Andrew circled in from the side, slashing at the Wendigo’s flank before quickly moving out of the range of its claws.

It continued like a complicated dance, both Neil and Andrew dashing around the Wendigo and landing hits whenever there was a safe opening.

The Wendigo seemed to catch on though, and it adapted its strategy.

Neil watched as Andrew moved around the Wendigo, striking when he thought it was safe. Neil saw the calculations in the Wendigo’s eyes. It was memorizing Andrew’s pattern.

Neil could tell what was going to happen. The Wendigo would fake a downward slash, which would prompt Andrew to go in for an upward one, not realizing that the Wendigo would meet him head on with a blow from its claws.

“Andrew!” Neil yelled out, “No!”

Andrew paused to look at Neil which kept him safe of the Wendigo’s claws, but he couldn’t react fast enough to block the Wendigo’s backswing and was backhanded across the face by the Wendigo and knocked to the ground.

“Hey!” Aaron yelled from across the street, drawing the Wendigo’s attention and causing it to run towards him.

Neil edged closer to Andrew. He looked for any signs of a scratch from the beast, but it appeared that Andrew was fine. Other than the fact that he was unconscious and the black eye he’d have in the morning.

A scream from the other side of the street drew Neil’s attention and he turned just in time to see Kevin orb Nicky and Aaron to a safe place. But when Neil found Kevin and Nicky, Aaron wasn’t with them.

Aaron had been tackled out of Kevin’s orb by the Wendigo and was lying face down in the street.

There was no sign of the Wendigo anywhere Neil looked but he could see a pull of blood forming under Aarons body.

Neil ran forward and grimaced at what he saw.

Aaron’s shirt was torn open, and three angry red claw marks were etched into his skin.

Aaron had been scratched by the Wendigo.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> action! things are actually happening!
> 
> find me on [tumblr](https://lscar123.tumblr.com) if you want 


	6. From Fear to Eternity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *casually pretends it hasn't been 9 months since the last update*

 

 

 

 

Chapter Six

From Fear to Eternity

 

Neil opened his eyes slowly, blinking up at the high ceiling overhead. Everything around him seemed dull, muted. An echo filled his ears, sounding like rushing water through a river. He was on something soft, much softer than anything he’d slept on in months, maybe years. He didn’t like it though, it was unfamiliar, the entire place was unfamiliar. It took a few more seconds, but then everything came rushing back to him.

The Wendigo. The alleyway. The group of witches. The Whitelighter.

Andrew.

Neil gasped, springing up from the couch he was laying on and scrambling for a weapon. He reached into his pockets and came up empty, ran his fingers beneath his long sleeves and found nothing. There was nothing strapped to his legs, or his ankles. He was completely defenseless. He couldn’t see his bag, which meant he was without any of the potions he’d brewed.

His hands were shaking, he looked down at them in horror as they trembled helplessly. Neil balled his hands into fists, squeezing tightly until his fingers hurt in an effort to stop the shaking. He couldn’t appear weak in front of these people, they were powerful, and he didn’t know what they wanted to do to him.

He looked around, noting that he was inside a house. It was nice, probably a late Victorian model. The floors were hardwood, and there were several rugs spread out under furniture and running along long stretches of hallways. China cabinets lined the walls, a fireplace sat off to the corner. There was no fireplace poker though, which meant Neil was out of options for weapons unless he wanted to use a throw pillow to smother someone. He wasn’t against the idea, it just wasn’t entirely practical.

He could hear voices coming from further into the house, but he could also see the front door from where he was standing. He looked over his shoulder, checking to see if he was being watched, and slowly crept towards the door. He managed to make it across the room without the floorboards creaking under his weight, so he reached out to grab the handle of the door.

Neil felt an immediate pain lance through his body as his hand wrapped around the doorknob. It traveled up his arm like electricity, rending him apart from the inside out. His feet flew out from under him and he was propelled down the hallway, flying several feet through the air before landing heavily on the hardwood floor. 

The pain receded almost instantly, leaving Neil breathless and dazed on the floor. He heard footsteps coming from behind him and flinched when a shadow fell over his body. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see who was above him.

“Good job.” A bored voice said, “You really thought we wouldn’t make sure you stayed put?”

“Andrew.” Neil gritted his teeth, “Fuck. Off.”

“No.” Andrew said instantly, “Get up, you still have a deal to honor.”

“Go away.” Neil said, “I’m not helping you anymore.”

“You are.” Andrew said, grabbing Neil by his wrist and yanking him up from the floor.

Neil reacted instantly, jerking his arm free of Andrew’s grip and thrusting his opposite hand out towards Andrew. It didn’t have the desired effect; his powers were still bound which meant that Andrew didn’t just take a face full of magical energy.

 Andrew just stood there with a single eyebrow raised, his eyes darting from Neil’s hand to his face.

“Do not touch me.” Neil said, “Ever.”

“Fine.” Andrew said, too quickly for Neil’s liking, “Follow me, rabbit.”

“Don’t call me that.” Neil said, but Andrew was already walking away from him.

Absent of any other potions, Neil followed him. He made note of his surroundings, taking in where possible weapons could be hidden if he needed to fight them all off. He’d found a few picture frames he could probably break and use, but nothing substantial yet.

The room Andrew went into was the kitchen, Neil noticed the smell of magic immediately. There was a black cauldron on one of the counters, sitting perfectly between a microwave and the refrigerator. It was all very modern. He noticed lines of small drawers across another counter, all labeled with various magical ingredients.

Those could come in handy.

The island in the middle of the kitchen was occupied by a body, one that looked exactly like Andrew. Aaron, then. He was shirtless, unconscious, and bleeding. The Whitelighter was standing over him, his hands hovering over the wound on his chest. Neil watched as futile magic emanated from the Whitelighter’s hands, warm blue light spilling out but doing nothing to heal the wound.

It would work if it was a normal wound, from what Neil knew about Whitelighter’s he knew they used that kind of magic to heal their charges, the people they were bound to protect. But there was nothing a Whitelighter’s magic could do about a scratch from a Wendigo.

“It’s pointless.” Neil said, “You’re not going to heal him, it’s not a wound that can be healed.”

“I know.” The Whitelighter said, “I’m trying to anyway.”

“Stupid.” Neil said, “You’re wasting your energy when there’s only one way to save him.”

Everyone in the kitchen stopped and turned their head towards Neil.

“What is he talking about?” The tall one asked, Nicky, if Neil remembered right.

“Yes, Kevin. Do tell us.” Andrew said, leaning dangerously across the counter.

Kevin’s eyes darted between the two witches and Neil, “The only way to save someone who’s been scratched by a Wendigo is to kill the Wendigo who scratched them. But you have to do it before the victims turns for the first time, or else it will be permanent.”

“Oh my god.” Nicky’s jaw dropped, “Holy shit.”

“You really didn’t know that?” Neil asked, cocking his head to the side as he watched the realization flicker across Andrew and Nicky’s faces, “Are you sure you’re _really_ the Charmed Ones?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nicky asked, looking stricken.

Neil took a step backwards and leaned his hip against the doorframe, “The Charmed Ones are stuff of legends, they’re whispered about in the underworld to keep young demon’s and warlocks in check. They’re supposed to be powerful forces of good, but the three of you can’t even properly vanquish a Wendigo.”

“You sure know a lot about what’s talked about in the underworld.” Andrew pointed out, an eyebrow arched.

Neil ignored him, “Nicky couldn’t even figure out how to throw a potion correctly, and Aaron left himself completely open to the claws of a Wendigo. Any witch worth their salt would know that the claws are the most dangerous part of a Wendigo, not the teeth. As far as I’m concerned, Aaron deserved what happened to him for being reckless.”

Neil didn’t have time to react before Andrew had him slammed against the wall in the hallway. The impact rung through Neil’s body, raidiating from his tailbone all the way up his spine. Neil could feel the press of cold steel against his throat, and could just make out the ornate handle of an athame in Andrew’s hand.

“Touchy subject?” Neil smirked.

He didn’t wince when he felt the tip of the blade push into the skin of his throat. The familiar sensation of blood trickling down his body was almost comfortable at this point. It was odd not being able to fight back, but Neil wondered if he even would have if his powers were unbound. It didn’t feel like Andrew wanted to kill him, though Neil suspected that Andrew wouldn’t be too upset if he did accidentally split Neil’s throat open.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Andrew whispered, letting up pressure on the blade, “since you seem to know so much about how a Wendigo operates, you’re going to help us find it and kill it before Aaron turns completely.”

Neil pushed back against Andrew, just enough to let him know he could get away if he wanted to, “That wasn't the deal”

Andrew was quiet for a moment, and then he withdrew his blade, sliding it back down one of the black armbands he wore, he crossed his arms over his chest from the other side of the hallway, “We're changing the deal. You help us kill the Wnedigo before Aaron turns, and then I'll let you walk out of here.”

“Why should I trust you?” Neil felt a stab of anger, “You've already changed the terms of this _deal_ once, what's to stop you from doing it again? Who's to say that you won't change your mind after the Wendigo is a pile of ashes? What if you decide you want more from me?" 

A small twitch of Andrew's eye was the only tell that Neil had gotten to him, "This is a modification of our current deal, if you hold up your end of the bargain then you can modify my end within reason."

“If we save Aaron, I get to leave and ask for something else if I want to.” Neil hummed, “What happens if we don’t save Aaron?”

Andrew’s eyes were ice cold when they locked onto Neil’s, “You don’t want to find out.”

Neil watched Andrew, watched the unflinching way he said his words. There was a promise in his threat, but it was a promise of violence that Neil had heard too many times. He could agree to help Andrew, and even if they didn’t save Aaron, Neil didn’t think it would be impossible for him to get away. If something happened to Aaron, there would be no more Power of Three. The Power of Three was the biggest threat to Neil.

But.

But.

 _But_.

The Power of Three might be exactly what Neil needed to help himself. If anything was strong enough to unbind his magic, it would be The Power of Three.

“Fine.” Neil said, “I’ll help you find the Wendigo, kill it, and save your brother.”

 

III

 

Andrew watched Neil as they stood clustered around the Book of Shadows in the attic.

He was an idiot, that was for damn sure. He was something Andrew couldn’t figure out, and Andrew didn’t like things he couldn’t figure out. There was an air of danger around Neil, something that alarmed Andrew’s every sense. He didn’t know if it was his human senses being set off, or the more finely tuned magical ones.

Neil moved and talked like someone with experience in the magical world, he acted like someone who had power and knew how to use it, but he never once did. The way Neil looked at them, it was like he was picturing them all burning to death via fireballs. Andrew had given Neil every opportunity to strike back, to lash out with whatever power he had inside of him, but he always just stood there and took it.

Sure, he had a wicked mouth and short temper, but he never actually fought Andrew with anything other than them.

Andrew was confused, and confused was something he hardly ever was.

Not to mention the fact that Neil looked like he was just hours from falling apart himself. His clothes were dirty and baggy, his hair was wild and greasy, and the bags under his eyes were so dark it almost looked like he’d been punched in both eyes repeatedly.

He obviously hadn’t slept in days, but he was still spritely and alert.

It was like he was used to it.

Couple that with the fact that Neil’s eyes scanned for exits every time they walked into the room.

The little rabbit.

“Where’s Kevin?” Neil asked, standing in front of the podium that held the Book of Shadows.

“He’s downstairs watching Aaron.” Nicky answered, “I didn’t think we should leave him alone.”

“Ah, yes.” Neil nodded, “Victims of a Wendigo scratch have an unfortunate tendency to pop back into consciousness to search for their first kill, it’s probably best to leave someone who’s already dead with them.”

“Watch it.” Andrew warned, his tone biting.

Neil held up both hands in surrender, “My apologies.”

Neil reached out to open the Book of Shadows, and just as the tips of his finger touched the leather of the cover, the book shot across the room. The podium it was on tipped over, clattering to the ground, and the book flew through the air in a direct line to crash into one of the antique mirrors that was stored in the attic.

Andrew waved his hands in the air, freezing the book just before it could shatter the mirror. He didn’t much care about antiques, but he certainly didn’t want to clean up all the broken glass.

Andrew looked at Neil, eyeing him sharply, “Curious.”

Neil shrugged, “I guess it just doesn’t like outsiders?”

Nicky finally picked his jaw up from the ground and ran towards the book, pulling it out of the air and cradling it to his chest. Neil at least had the courtesy to bend down and pick up the podium, he was straightening it just as Nicky came back and dropped the book onto it.

Neil took a step back, “Maybe one of you two should handle the book.”

“Good idea!” Nicky laughed shrilly, “I’ll just…”

Neil moved further back, carefully staying out of arms reach from either of them. Andrew was torn between watching Neil’s every movement, and watching Nicky fumble with the pages of the book. After a few seconds he sighed, pushing Nicky to the side, and thumbing quickly through the pages of the book until he found the entry on the Wendigo again.

 

**_Unbecoming the Wendigo_ **

 

**_Destroy the Wendigo by melting_ **

**_his heart of ice, fire is the key_ **

**_Show no mercy, he will show_ **

**_none to you. If a person has_ **

**_been injured but not slain by the_ **

**_Wendigo, said person will only_ **

**_be made whole by the complete_ **

**_destruction of the Wendigo._ **

****

 

“It says the same thing as the last time we read it.” Nicky frowned.

“Clearly you needed to read it again.” Neil mumbled, loud enough for both of them to hear it, “It’s easier to kill a Wendigo when it’s in its human skin, it puts up less of a fight if you can get to it before it transforms.”

“So you’re saying that we need to scry for the Wendigo, walk up to it in broad daylight when we find it, and set it on fire?” Nicky looked dubious.

Neil turned to Andrew, ignoring Nicky, “I don’t know where you put my things, but I should still have a few ingredients needed for the vanquishing potion in my bag.”

Andrew scoffed, “The things you _stole_ have been returned to their owner, save for exactly what we needed to kill the Wendigo.”

Neil’s eyes grew cloudy, his stare even more intense than before. Andrew tracked his movements, watched as Neil’s right hand flexed, his fingers opening slightly as if he was holding something invisible in them. The move was aborted quickly, his fingers curled into a fist and he turned away from Andrew with a frustrated huff.  

Interesting.

Maybe the magical boy wasn’t so _magical_ after all.

“The potion is brewing right now.” Andrew said to Neil’s retreating form.

“Good.” Neil’s voice grew distant, the sound of his steps echoing on the wooden stairs that led down from the attic, “Let’s get this over with.”

When it was just the two of them left alone in the attic, Nicky whispered in a comically loud voice, “Andrew, are you sure we should trust him?”

“No.” Andrew answered immediately, “And you’re an idiot if you do.”

“You don’t trust him,” Nicky said, confused, “but you’re going to let him walk away of he helps us? Or were you lying?”

“I don’t lie.” Andrew pointed out, “Hell help us because he’s desperate, and then he’ll run away like the scared little rabbit that he is.”

Neil would be out of his sight the second Andrew ended the spell that was keeping him in the manor. He’d walk out the door, his ratty bag in hand, and never look back. Which was fine, Andrew had enough to worry about without having to think of a stupid runaway witch boy.

Nicky sighed, scooping up one of his crystals and attaching it to a thin metal chain. He grabbed a red string and the tuft of hair they still had from the Wendigo and tied it to the crystal so it would seek out and find the Wendigo wherever it was. He spread the map of San Francisco out on one of the tables in the attic and dangled the crystal above it. Nicky took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and started to slowly circle the crystal over the map.

Andrew never had any patience for scrying. It left his mind too open, too vulnerable to memory. To scry properly you had to shut everything off, let yourself be as relaxed as you possibly could and let your magic work as an extension of yourself. Aaron failed at it more often than not too, too full of pent up resentment to be of any use to anyone.

Nicky, surprisingly, was the only one who was any good at it. Andrew didn’t truly understand why, but at least Nicky could do something good other than see bad shit before it happened.

The crystal began moving faster across the map. Its wide circles got smaller as it moved, going from swooping arcs down to fast moving swings that had roughly the same circumference as a dime. Nicky was getting close to finding the Wendigo, and then they could kill it before Aaron turned. Nicky opened his eyes at the exact moment the crystal made contact with the map itself, a small thud sounding out when it tapped against the wood of the table under the map.

“Found it.” Nicky said, pushing the crystal to the side to read where it was indicating, “Oh.”

“What?” Andrew asked, walking over to stand behind Nicky.

“Um,” Nicky looked over his shoulder at Andrew, “I, uh, think we might have a problem.”

“Spit it out.” Andrew barked.

Nicky pointed at the map, “This says that the Wendigo is at the Bay Area police station.”

Andrew sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Nothing can ever be easy, can it?”

“What do we do now?” Nicky asked, standing up from the table.

Andrew turned, leaving Nicky behind as he made his way down from the attic, “We go find the little rabbit and tell him that the Wendigo is in the same building as our dear friend Detective Boyd.”

 

 


End file.
